Is esports competition considered athletic competition? Many would argue that playing video games is not an athletic activity and some would claim to not care one way or the other. Happy Walters of Catalyst Sports & Media and Chad Faulkner of Sports Academy care much more about the question than most.

Each Walters and Faulkner would answer in the affirmative and tell you that not only are esports players athletes, but they deserve a training regimen crafted specifically for their needs -- a strong core, perfect posture, hand-eye coordination, and strong forearms, hands, wrists and fingers. Additionally, professional gamers should be training with cardiovascular exercises, focusing on nutrition and partaking in cryotherapy, according to Walters.

Walters, the sports and entertainment entrepreneur who represents future NBA lottery pick De’Aaron Fox, realizes that as the esports industry continues to grow, the key individuals -- the gamers themselves -- are not receiving the necessary training to compete at a maximum level. He reached out to his neighbor Faulkner and discussed the idea of creating a facility solely dedicated to training esports competitors.

Today, Walters and Faulkner officially announce the creation of Sandbox Esports Training Center, a 2,000 square foot space nestled within Sports Academy's 96,000 square foot multi-sport training facility located in Thousand Oaks, California. Well over $100,000 has been invested in the Sandbox Training Center alone and there will be additional costs in adding a staff as well as maintaining the gear, according to Faulkner.

"The build out has really come from the perspective and guidance of professional gamers. We built the spec based on their requirements," added Faulkner.

Price points for training at the Sandbox Esports Training Center vary from $500 per week for light training to much more depending on requested intensity. Popular esports team Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) has already tested out the facility and loved it so much that the team has decided to conduct its two week long training camp at Sandbox Esports Training Center, which started May 15.

“Sandbox Esports and Sports Academy understand the complete needs of esports athletes,” says Matt Nausha, Director of eSports at CLG. “Participating in this program was the first time that our athletes were able to combine physical training with cognitive esports training. Our athletes were able to receive instruction from the best trainers in the industry while using state-of-the-art technology to perfect their esports skills.”

But Sandbox Esports Training Center, which will seat up to forty players at one time, was not solely created for the professional esports player. It will additionally offer fantasy camps with coaching by the best League of Legends professionals in the world and amateur camps coached by top ranked players in each game. Confirmed pros for the fantasy camps include Darshan and Aphromoo of CLG and Adrian, formerly of Team Liquid.

Professional and amateur esports enthusiasts will also have the unique opportunity to converse with professional athletes in other sports, as Sports Academy serves as a training facility for professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, etc. All of Catalyst Sports & Media's NBA prospects are training there, and Faulkner says there is a healthy respect between the gamers and the more traditional athletes.

The initial offering at Sandbox Esports Training Center will focus on League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Overwatch and NBA 2K. Catalyst Sports & Media's plan is to eventually expand Sandbox Esports Training Center beyond California to other locations across North America and offer online improvement programs that esports players can access when they're not at the facility.

Darren Heitner is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work, and is the author of 2 editions of How to Pl...